Ginyu Force > Menace to Society 2-1

With the Grand Finals just around the corner this match could just very well be the preview. The two top teams here will be facing each other for the first time since they played on ctfhaunt, and I suspect this time it’ll be a lot more of a competitive match up. MTS has been steadily strong all season, and giving them a slight boost in the playoffs has been Platinum on soldier. Harbleu and the rest of the team’s ability to adapt so well and so quickly under pressure has allowed MTS to dominate teams who, on paper, should have better DM and players overall. I might’ve even been inclined to predict MTS to win if it had been a map other than plswiftwater or if Ginyu hadn’t begun to miraculously get their stuff together in the past week or so. With Duwatna main calling the rest of Ginyu Force finally has the room to fulfill their devastating potential. The map will also play into Ginyu’s favor as Cusideabelincoln is far away the best engineer and one of the most gifted strategists in highlander. Frank West has also been stepping it up significantly on spy after a couple of below average performances. Probably helps that pl_swiftwater is his favorite map. That being said MTS is last team anyone should ever be underestimating. I learned that lesson the hard way last season and I got to add yet another third place medal to my collection as proof of it. The levels of aggression that MTS can apply are something you have to be mentally prepared to face. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed at first point defense and then by the time you realize what’s happened you’re already getting rolled to your fourth. Expect a very close and intense battle.

Baby Punching Marathon > The Syndicate 2-1

Clashing in the lower bracket this Monday we have another pair of top teams that had the unfortunate displeasure of playing each other on ctf_haunt earlier in the season. Seriously what’s up with that? Anyway BPM and TS should have plenty of room to throw blows at each other this week. Vhalin’s return has brought Syndicate back up to a level where they can compete well against the other top teams, but it just might end up being too little too late. If he had been there the whole season I reckon they would have a lot more potency. That’s not to say they still don’t have the talent and teamwork to take down BPM. Stabby Stabby has been putting in that work recently, and being able to go pick for pick with Pulse is an almost necessity when going against BPM. JJK seems to be much more comfortable sniping on payload and should snipe evenly with if not better than Mouse. Chriz-tah-fah and Arthur have also been working very well together on swiftwater. Maybe it’s the map or maybe they’ve finally figured each other out. Either way Syndicate aren’t going to give in as easily as BPM might hope for. Besides having exceptional players at each position however, BPM has a team chemistry that almost rivals that of MTS. Bronze constantly top frags because he’s always in position to clean up that damage coming from Kapoww. Boink is both unpredictable and unrelenting with his bombs, and the silent killer Pulse will pick your demoman all game long without breaking a sweat. The key for TS to win will be in stifling the momentum of BPM. If they can completely stuff a push or two on any one point they should have a strong chance at disrupting the rhythm that BPM relies on and take the round with it.